Summer vs outdoor kitchens…

Is there a difference between summer and outdoor kitchens? The answer is yes. 

Summer kitchens originated in our country back in the early 1800s. Wealthy plantation owners built summer kitchens away from the main house on their property. The structures were usually made of timber, rocks, and bricks.

Its purpose was to keep slaves and servants away from the main house while having a place to cook and prepare large meals for everyone on the plantation.

Another practical reason for the owners to have summer kitchens was to keep smoke, and strong cooking smells out of their homes and keep the homes cooler in the hot months.

For the similar practical reasons, summer kitchens became popular in New England and New York. Outdoor kitchens weren’t just for wealthy plantation owners anymore; regular working-class people built summer kitchens on their properties. 

Settlers that headed west brought the idea of summer kitchens along with them. They became prevalent in the midwest.

Summer kitchens were practical, especially when it came to harvest time. They were cooler and roomier to fit more people than the small kitchens in their homes.

The proverbial phrase many hands make light work made it possible for groups of women to work together processing and to can food for the winter months ahead.

With the introduction of modern ovens and air conditioning, summer kitchens were no longer desired and petered out; however, many people in the mid-west still have and use theirs. 

As far as real estate is concerned, the remains of old and historic rock or brick summer kitchens are a valuable asset to properties. They are sometimes made into sheds, workshops, or yoga studios.

After summer kitchens became a thing of the past and after World War 2 ended, the company Weber introduced their first home grill in the early 1950s. The grill was promoted as “Backyard fun” for the family. Beer, drink, food and snack manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon with this promotional idea to be part of the backyard fun. 

Most families had grilling and picnic areas in their backyards but not nothing compared to an outdoor or summer kitchen. We know the “man of the house” did the grilling while the woman did everything else for a cookout. Why did they think someone who had no experience or knowledge of cooking regularly like the woman of the house did was in charge of grilling the main part of the meal?

To back this up, most of the cookouts I went to as a kid had black hotdogs, burgers as dry as hockey pucks, and chicken either burned beyond recognition or raw in the middle. I rest my case!

For the same reason, I will never understand why the man of the house carved the Thanksgiving turkey? Was it done out of honor? Was it too dangerous for a woman to use a carving knife? Was she too intimated or ladylike? 🤔

Back to the topic on hand, I believe in giving credit where credit is due. The Food Network is what sparked America’s love of home cooking and grilling in the mid 1980s. It all started with Emeril Lagasse’s show How to Boil Water. Viewers were mesmerized by watching celebrity chefs cooking and grilling outdoors; of course, they wanted to do the same thing.

This type of cooking was making real food for real people and educating them simultaneously. Viewers didn’t feel intimated like they did by French cooking programs on television and could prepare the dishes they learned any night of the week. I believe it was the birth of the modern outdoor kitchen craze. The rest is history.

Ok, so what is an outdoor kitchen? A place to serve drinks & cocktails, make pizzas, grill, and entertain friends and family when the weather is nice. 

Modern outdoor kitchens have sinks and sometimes dishwashers. Most of them have high-end grills and small appliances such as refrigerators, kegerators, and wine fridges. Many have authentic pizza ovens brought over from Italy.

These gorgeous, fully covered outdoor kitchens can also have fireplaces, large flat-screen TVs, and various sectional seating areas. It is truly a living and entertaining extension of someone’s home.

We had a lot to consider when we were in the planning and designing stages of our outdoor kitchen back in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic.

While I love those incredible outdoor kitchens, we knew that wasn’t us or suitable for our property. The cost was another issue. 

We knew we wanted an outdoor kitchen for cooking, grilling, frying, smoking meats, and making pizzas with a large prep area. 

It turns out our once referred to as our “outdoor kitchen” is more of a summer kitchen. It is set up for functionality and cookery, not for entertainment or show. This was not a priority for us since we rarely entertain or have company.

We use our summer kitchen as often as possible. We have pretty shitty weather here in VT a lot of the time, so we love spending as much time outdoors as possible.

Our summer kitchen is an uncovered, open-air kitchen with all commercial equipment. It is practical for me to cook, fry, and grill outdoors to keep the heat, smoke, and strong smells out of the house, just like back in the old days.

Marty was able to find all of our outdoor commercial equipment and work tables on Facebook Marketplace for ridiculously low prices. 

There is a two-burner stove, a flat top grill, and an infrared grill. We have a small commercial fryer and a small, portable pizza oven we use often. We made sure to have lots of prep space so more than one person could be working in the kitchen at the same time.

We still use the summer kitchen for grilling in the winter months even though the other equipment is covered up. I have grilled in torrential downpours and snow storms wearing snow boots since the snow was up to my knees. 

Last night, I used the summer kitchen to make a meal I usually cook indoors in cast iron pans. It made total sense to use the grill as a stove and cook dinner outside on a beautiful evening. 

Our summer kitchen isn’t fancy-schmancy like outdoor kitchens, but it’s a well-designed, hip, and functional space to make some kick-ass food in the great outdoors.